Welcome to Gaia! ::

Already, people were beginning to trickle in, and Nanami was thankful that she had grabbed a table away from the likely-soon-to-be-crowded bar. So far, she didn't really recognize many of the people there -- most of them were young, as could be expected, and she didn't exactly bump elbows with young people much. One of the NPC waiters delivered her drink, and after thanking him, she swirled the ice around the glass absentmindedly. She was sure it would perk up later, but it was a little lonely with so few people.

She was looking at the condensation accumulating on the surface of the glass when someone sat down at her table. For a split second, she was startled. Who would be approaching her? She looked up and was relieved to see it was Raiden. Ah, yes, she should have guessed. "Come, sit! The more the merrier," she smiled at him, cheering up instantly. "Are you here alone?" She glanced around, half expecting to see her daughter getting drinks or something, as implausible as that was. Haruka had been to bar for New Year's once, and once had been enough, it seemed. "How unusual! I'm so used to you two sticking together like glue, strange to see you by yourself," she added, as good-humored as ever. As pleased as she was to see her so-close-to-a-son-in-law-that-you-might-as-well-call-him-son-in-law, she did feel a little strange hogging his attention when maybe he had come with friends or something. "Don't feel obligated to stick around, by the way! You're young, you should enjoy yourself." She smiled brightly at him, trying not to sound like she was pitying herself or anything. The last thing she wanted was to be the depressing older lady at the bar.

---

Yuri eyed Sethrian expectantly, waiting for the response she wanted. He was slow to take the bait, but she had committed, so she could be patient. When she had been younger, more attractive, and less reserved, she would have been driven absolutely crazy by his lack of enthusiasm. But to be honest, this year had been so rough, she would be lying if she didn't share some of his lethargy. So she waited, keeping a nice half-smile plastered on her face as she did so. "Hobo clown, yeah," she laughed, pushing her hair back over her shoulder. "You really saved me, I never got to thank you properly." She was glad he remembered, it would have been embarrassing if he didn't, and then she'd just look like some sort of crazy person.

Her smile widened as he asked to buy her a drink. Yes, this was what she had been waiting for. "Sure," she beamed, "Thanks. I'll have what you're having." She didn't need to let him know that she had ordered something already. Afterall, she'd never say no to a free drink from a good looking guy.

Locking eyes with the NPC bartender who had just finished her order, it looked like, her smile vanished and she jerked her head side to side once. Yuri came to the bar a lot, like a lot a lot, so she had developed a special psychic connection that could only be shared between a bartender and his alcoholic divorcee customer. The NPC bartender nodded knowingly, then went to dump her drink into the sink. Relaxing in her seat, she was pretty sure she could smell the slight stench of the steel sink dissolving. Now that that was done with, she turned back to her conversation partner. "I don't think I introduced myself back then. I'm Yuri. Yuri Allen. It's nice to officially meet you, finally," she introduced herself pleasantly, holding out a hand to shake. This night was looking to be better already!

Zeke turned to look at the growing crowd and didn't see anyone that he could remember. Ah, he'd just have to get a few more drinks in before he hopped up onto the bar and started to do magic acts. That could be fun! Oh, now he really wanted to start drinking faster. He knew that it was probably best to pace himself and let the crazy come out on its own. He took a drink of his boring old beer and then looked over at his sister. "How's your surprise?" He snickered before raising his hand to get another drink. "About as good as any of your surprises in your pocket, I suppose." Lunesca mumbled through her cup as she gulped down another drink. Ah, drinking in silence and occasionally taking stabs at each other. Just another holiday for the Baums.

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Raiden happily sat in the seat across from Nanami and glanced around the place. "Oh, yes. I'm here alone. Haruka is at home with Axel. I felt a little bad about leaving her, but I guess we do need to have some time apart. Oh not like a break up or anything, you know what I mean. Like you said, we're typically stuck together like glue." He blew out some air and scratched his hand through his hair. Oh, gosh. This was so uncomfortable. He was almost not used to being alone in places. He was feeling an awful pang of guilt and drinking didn't even sound all that good right now. Maybe he was coming down with something. Winter was heading out but wanted to take a final stab at him by leaving some awful illness behind. Yes, that was likely. That's why his stomach felt so sick. It wasn't that he had left his long-term girlfriend at home with their child. What if Axel had wrecked the whole house? Oh goddess. He needed to rush home and check on them. No. No. He needed to stay and prove to himself that he was capable of being an individual again. "Oh, no. I'm fine right here with you. I didn't plan on much interaction. Drinking just feels more formal in person, y'know? So, I'm just glad that you're here to talk to." Oh, he was saying too much. "So, yeah. How have you been?" He swallowed and looked over at her.

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Tatyana had been turning her head and looking (entirely nonchalantly of course) at each person as they entered, waiting to spot someone she knew or someone that was interesting enough to deserve conversation. She perked up ever so slightly when she spotted that young woman from the Pumpkin fest. Oh, what was her name? It was exotic. That was so long ago! Oh, she was sure that it didn't matter that much. She rose her arm and waved to Murren, hoping that she'd bring her some company. Two girls having fun were probably more likely to attract some prospects, right? Yes, that sounded like a plan. She sat up in her seat and took a small sip of her overly sweet cocktail. "Hey, long time no see!" She said with a smile. This girl had mentioned last time that she liked drinking, right? Hadn't she brought a flask for the punch? That seemed like something that had happened. If they couldn't attract someone, at least she'd have someone to talk to when she began to cry into her drinks.

Ah.. New Years huh? The chance at a brand new start that comes around every year. Though when you live a peaceful life on an island with little going on in the ways of events, things tend to just meld together into a string of inseparable happenings. Or at least, that's how Reed had felt his life had been as of late. Years had just kind of gone by without him really feeling like he did anything. He was living, and working, and taking care of the house, but did those things really count in this world as doing stuff? Most likely not. It wasn't enough that he was a good family man who spent his days with his youngest children making sure they don't get into trouble. But, even a resident dad needed a night out. And thanks to duping his oldest into watching her younger siblings for the night, Reed could afford such a luxury.

The man arrived at the bar to see that it really wasn't as raving as he hoped it to be. There were some people there, some young people, but not a lot really going on. Though, he did see a familiar face or two. No one he wanted to deal with at the moment though. So he approached the bar, scouting out a place to sit that wasn't next to a child or young woman that could get him in trouble with the Mrs.. So he opted to sit next to a man close to his age, one with white hair that he began to think was becoming common place in this society. Reed stopped at the bar and ordered himself a tall pint before going over to a lone table int he corner where a conversational partner could be found. "Mind if I grab this seat?" He asked the man (Eoin) who occupied the table. It was rare to run into an older member of the community who was still a new face. And well, Reed did hate to drink alone, so nothing like sharing a drink with a stranger.

Reed smiled politely as he was given permission to join the man. "Reed Page," He introduced as he sat and slid his drink onto the table. His eyes once again looked around the bar he was facing, wondering why their was always such a large influx of younger people on the island. "I feel ya', nothing like a drink to bring crowds together," Reed commented as his sight broke from the bar.

It was never really a problem for him to strike up a conversation with some people to enjoy himself. Actually, he just couldn't get into the right mood if he didn't have someone, or a bunch of someones, to get him going. But with a drinking companion, well he could just let loose. Which he needed, since he had been without his wife for quite sometime recently. Reed rose his glass up and downed about half of the pint before letting out a long, refreshed sigh and a quick, "That's the stuff." There was no point in thinking about that kind of stuff. He relaxed himself a bit more into his seat, feeling a bit more settled in and than turned to Eoin. "It's nice to see someone who isn't my daughter's age here for once," He said with a laugh. It was hard to get a drink when all the people he usually saw went to school with his little girl.

Yuri was showing a surprisingly great amount of self-restraint up until that point, but she could only be in the bar, surrounded by all this wonderful booze, before she broke. It didn't take her very long to finish her drink once she got the chance, and she quickly called the bartender over to order another, something a little bit alcoholic. She didn't need to be drunk to talk to Sethrian, but... well, she came here a lot, and she may or may not have had a problem, so it was like a reflex.

"You're new to town?" For some reason, that was surprising. She figured that all new arrivals were a lot more... bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It was kind of unusual to find someone who'd just moved here moping at the bar. Still... there was hope! No one who knew all her business! It was sort of horrifying how fast news spread in small towns. "Couldn't tell at all! You seem like a native." This island did things to people after a while. Wore out your soul.

Yuri's drink had arrived, but before she could chug it, as she was conditioned to do, he said something nice. "That's sweet," she smiled, genuinely flattered. She was always a sucker for compliments regarding her physical appearance! "I guess we're both starting off the new year pretty lucky." She took a sip from her new glass. Perfect. She knew it was a good drink when she lost her sense of smell for a moment.

The topic had shifted to work, something that Yuri typically wasn't too excited to talk about, but the alcohol was beginning to work its way up to her brain and it didn't seem to bother her much at the moment. "I work at the antique shop here. Kind of like the bakery, only a lot dustier, and I wouldn't recommend eating any of the merchandise." Before she could let another lame joke slip out without her consent, she took another drink.

Murren was surprised when someone actually spoke to her because she wasn't sure she actually knew anyone on the island yet but sure enough, someone started speaking to her and smiling and all that, and Murren actually recognized her because she was the woman with the really manly sister-brother person. "Och! 'All there!" she said. She couldn't quite remember the other woman's name but on some days she couldn't even remember her own name so it was all good.

"'Ow are yer?" she asked, "Ah've no' seen yer since the las' party on th' island, 'ave Ah?" Wot, are yer 'ere alone?" She was surprised. Tatyana was lovely woman but there didn't seem to be any men looking her way. Damned fools had to be blind. Murren would fix that! Somehow! Maybe.

After a drink.


***

"Well, not horribly," Sethrian said. "I mean, I've been here for a while, sort of. It's...hard to meet people?" God that was so pathetic. "I met the mayor, I think" he added, trying to cover up how pathetic he was. "But then I think I made her cry." He snickered into his glass before realizing he probably should have left that part out. Drat. "She hit me first though," he added just to make sure he didn't take any sort of actual blame for his actions, which had been totally justified. Besides, he'd saved her life.

He was a hero right? He gave Yuri a lopsided smile. "I did save her though, from drowning." He leaned back, trying to at least appear more relaxed that he was, but he sort of misjudged the location of the bar when he went to rest his elbow on it and missed entirely. He was on the floor, wondering what the hell happened, before he could even blink.

Ah. Well. That had been somewhat less suave than he imagined it. But he totally saved it by jumping back to his feet and sliding onto the bar-stool indignantly, then staunchly pretending nothing had happened as he laughed at her joke.

"I'll uh. I'll try to remember that. I'm sure I'd be too distracted with the beautiful employee to think about it, anyway."

***

"Oh, I'm sure that's true of just about any location," Eoin said. "It's not so bad living here though I assume I'll have to return to England at some point. My parents aren't getting younger and I figure I'll have to take up responsibility for looking after the family seat at some point. But I'm sure that's many years away, yeah?"

"Here's hoping." He lifted his glass before taking another swallow. He gave Reed a slight smile. "Daughters are difficult aren't they?" he said, laughing slightly. "Well, I guess mine has her reasons for keeping her distance. Wasn't really much of a father for the first half of her laugh."

"But we're here now, so I'm hoping to make up lost time." Ugh. This was a dreadfully mopey conversations. Did all fathers sound like this when they talked with each other. "I suppose that's the best any father can do."

****

Gray had decided that it was time to et out and meet some people besides those he knew at the circus because, well, he didn't even know them very well yet and it was kind of boring sitting at home cheating at solitaire because cheating at cards was only fun when there were other people involved, so he soon found himself strolling into the bar, looking for someone that looked easy to take advantage of. (Or easy to get into bed. He was exactly the type to just into bed with anyone but it couldn't hurt to keep his options open. One never knew when some busty babe would just throw herself at him because she found his eyepatch attractive. Hell, that was half the reason he actually wore the damn thing).

At any rate, the crowd seemed to be mostly middle aged men and a few younger folks clustered together here and there, while the old people probably discussed golfing, or bowling, or whatever the geriatric crowd did around here for fun. Charming.

Then again, older people were usually pretty easy to take advantage of with all the failing eyesight and senility. Not that he wanted to maliciously empty their pockets or anything. But swiping a few twenties because of bad bets and some minor cheating didn't seem like anything too terrible, so maybe he could strike up a game of cards with someone later.

For the time being, he took up a seat next to a bickering couple at the bar (Zeke and Lunesca), giving them a friendly nod as he ordered his drink.

Ah, it was going to be one of those nights when his stupid sister decided to be upset about something. Zeke was about to mumble something witty back to Lunesca when someone else walked up to sit near them. Hmm, he looked like a fine young man. Maybe someone that would enjoy seeing a magic trick! Ah, yes. He looked like he would make a magnificent candidate for the latest magic trick. First, Ezekiel just needed to drink some more and get up the courage. Sure, it was easy to perform when people had actually wanted to come and see him. But trying out a completely new idea on someone who wasn't necessarily willing... that was a different story. He smiled and raised his glass slightly to Gray. "Hello! Happy New Year!" He called to the man, happy that someone else was coming around them. It had initially seemed like he was going to be doomed to drinking with his sister all night. While she wasn't actually the worst person, it didn't sound very appealing either.

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Luna's attention was caught by the arrival of someone that wasn't getting on her last nerve. She turned her head towards Gray and smiled. Oh! It was that new guy that had started working at the circus! (She wasn't all that fond of the wording of "joining the circus"). She couldn't quite put a finger to the name, but the circus wasn't all that big of a place. "Zeke." She hissed to her brother, hoping it was low enough that the new man couldn't hear. "That's the new guy at the circus I was telling you about." She quickly whispered to him before turning her head back to the man. "Oh, hi. Nice to see someone I recognize here."

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Raiden attempted to stop himself from continuing to blubber any further. He had said plenty already, and now it was time to sit back and let Nanami talk while he worried about what kind of drink he wanted. Ah, this was nice. He smiled at the nice little NPC waitress that popped up and sent her back to fetch him some scotch on rocks. He turned his attention back to Nanami as she continued to speak. Oh goddess. Did she just say mother-in-law? That was such a... big word. Well, not like big as in he didn't understand it or something like that, big as in... woah. What kind of responsibility did that bring with it? His fist instinctively clenched as he looked up at her. "Yeah, that sounds great." His teeth were practically clenched at this point and he was certain that she would be able to see right through him. "This will be a great evening to bring in the New Year." He managed to relax enough to actually smile this time. As long as he doesn't start to think about the family he has left at home. Oh dammit.

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Xeiro had a few drinks down and was ready to do something a little more exciting. Sure, drinking was fun, but he no longer needed to mope around with his drinks. Drinking needed to be a social gathering, rather than a way that he got over things. Now was time for a new year, and now was time to go mingle. He stood from his position off to the corner and looked around the place after a good stretch. Ah! His eyes might be tricking him, but that looked like Reed sitting down by some other man he couldn't quite recognize. It felt like he had seen him before, but just didn't know the name. If they weren't already talking to each other, he might feel bad about approaching them when they may be searching for women, but it wasn't like he wouldn't be bringing the women with him. He sat on the other side of Eoin and waved the bartender over. "A round of drinks for my buds here." He reached his arm out to gently pat Eoin on the shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt your discussion, fellas. Nice to meet you, I'm Xeiro." He said to the man before looking over to Reed. "Hey, Reed." He nodded and held up the glass that was placed in front of him. "Cheers to the New Year, yeah?"

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Tatyana was happy that Murren seemed to remember her, too. She quickly patted the seat next to her as the other woman got closer. Oh this was wonderful! They were sure to attract some men, now. She wouldn't have to wallow in self-pity much longer. Oh, that accent was so ...nice. It was a little hard to understand, and she could only imagine what alcohol would do to that. However, that didn't stop her from wanting to get to know Murren better. "Oh, yeah. I'm here alone, but that's okay! Because now I have you!" She stirred her drink a little while smiling. "I'm pretty good. Nothing much to complain about. New Year. That's exciting! How have you been? Gosh, it's been so long. You'd think we'd have bumped into each other by now." Oh, she was starting to ramble. She really shouldn't mix drink with interactions.

"Quite," Eoin said, raising an eyebrow. Well, that was quite the shift to a new topic. And not a topic, he was all that interested in either. He'd stopped picking up women from bars when he was 18 and realized the type of women who could be picked up were usually not worth it and the ones who were worth it, usually were above being picked up by stranger. Besides, he followed Reed's gaze to the "little" ladies in question and most of them looked like they were Angela's age anyway. "My wife has passed away. Though I suppose that is a...'bummer' in its own way," Eoin said.

Ah. Conversation with the locals. Always such an enlightening experience. So much for finding someone like-minded.

And then they were joined by a large, slightly familiar man. Eoin nodded to him politely. "Likewise. Viscoun...Ah, no. Just Eoin. Eoin Tremaine." He raised his glass slightly. "Cheers," he said, watching as a young (very young) woman spawned at Xeiro's arm.

"Ah yes, one of the 'little ladies' has arrived. Would you care to snag her, Reed? Unless you're married of course." He gave the man a little ironic smile. "In which case, what was it again? Bummer."

He lifted his glass and motioned a waitress over for a refill. Well, perhaps this would be entertaining after all.

**

"Same to you," Gray said, ordering a drink quickly. He smiled at Lunesca. Drat! He couldn't cheat one of his fellow employees out of money. Well, he could. But he'd probably regret it.

"Right, right. I've seen you around the big top here and there I think though I'm not sure we've been properly introduced." Before he sat, he gave them both a silly little bow. "Peregrine Elliott Gray Wellington IV, here. Though most just call me Gray. Makes things a bit easier, I suppose." He pulled up a stool and sat, drumming his hands quietly on the bar. "Now, you I recognize. But I don't recall ever seeing your friend around the circus?"

"I'm assuming you don't work there?" He did have the look of a performer though. Gray wondered who he was.

**

"Right, well, Ah've been busy at the farm, yer know? Lo's o' work ter do here an' there an' wit' all th' animals and suchlike. Well, et's no' so bad since Ah've go' mah own gian' 'oo 'elps aroun' wit' thin's, if'n yer follow me. Why jus' th' other day..." Murrenpaused here to ask for a bottle of whisky from under the counter. "Jus' th' other day, 'ee pulled a 'ay bale off o' me coz Ah thought Ah could carry et ter th' cows but et woz jus' ter 'eavy an' Ah fell righ' o'er wit' et on top."

"An' a few days b'fore tha' Ah got mah shirt 'alf stuck on a rusty nail stickin' right out from th' fence an' nearly ripped the ruddy thin' straight off--would 'ave ter if'n 'ee didn' rock up an' pull et loose fer me."

"Then there woz th' 'ole incident wit' th' cows. No' sure if'n that one's suitable for polite company, yer know?" She poured herself a drink from the bottle the bar tender set nearby, and lifted it to Tatyana, giving her a toothy grin.

"Well, ets good ter see yer again! I 'ope that sister o' yers is doin' well! 'Appy New Year!"